Review: FrightFest London 2018 (Part One)

From August 23rd until the 27th two cinemas in London (Cineworld Leicester Square and The Prince Charles Cinema) become home for the biggest genre festival in the UK, FRIGHTFEST. This was the 19th year of the event, run by Alan Jones, Ian Rattery, Greg Day and Paul McEvoy. Over the next five days, the audiences would be subjected to killer nuns, slashers, monsters, zombies and all manner of creatures (and humans), this year the event sponsored by Arrow Video.

With over 70 films as well as short ones too, it would be impossible to see everything. It does mean you have make choices, often hard ones. I'd seen Tigers Are Not Afraid at FrightFest Glasgow earlier in the year and wanted to see it again, but really wanted to see Anna And The Apocalypse which was on at the same time. In the end Anna won out, but I'm glad those who went to see Tigers (some on my recommendation) enjoyed the film. In the end I watched 22 films over the 5 days.

DAY ONE: THURSDAY

The Ranger (2018)

After the welcome and introductions, the opening film was The Ranger. Directed by Jenn Wexler, this was the first time a film directed by a woman had opened FrightFest. 

The story, of teens who fall foul of a park ranger, one who has ties to a member of the group, isn't original it has to be said. When the connection is revealed, I think a number of people in the audience had already figured it out. Personally, I thought the film started a bit slow and found the teens a bit annoying in the first part of the film, but when the carnage began, the film picked up, heading to a really good ending, helped by a good lead performance from Chloe Levine as Chelsea and especially Jeremy Holm who is terrific as The Ranger.

Summer Of 1984 (2018)

A number of films at FrightFest were throwbacks to previous decades and Summer Of 84, as its title suggests is one of those. It's certainly been influenced by the likes of Stranger Things, but I'd also toss in The Monster Squad, Stand By Me and the work of Hitchcock in there too. And yet, it's not a derivative film. Yes, the basic plot is a group of friends wondering if their neighbour, who happens to be a cop, is actually a serial killer, doesn't sound new, but writers Matt Leslie and Stephen J. Smith and the trio of directors, Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell have created a superb thriller.

The four teen leads (Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery and Cory Gruter-Andrew) are superb, their friendship never feels forced. There is good support too from Tiera Skovbye as Nikki, a girl who used to babysit one of them and also Rich Sommer as Wayne who may or may not be the killer.

The film grips as the teens investigate, all leading to an ending that is an almighty gut punch. It's an ending that works, because the film and its makers never forget the key thing about the main characters, that they are kids.

This was one of the best films of FrightFest.

Mega Time Squad (2018)

Mega Time Squad was the late night film on opening night and it was a film I considered skipping, simply because I was tired from the journey to London the day before and it seemed to be hitting me. However, I'm glad I stayed for it, as it was a good little film about the dangers of time travelling, as a small-time con steals an amulet that allows him to go back in time. Of course, as is often the case, he is warned of the potential dangers of this, but you won't get a film if they actually take the advice and as a result he ends up with several versions of himself running about. It perhaps owes a debt to Time Crimes or even the god-awful Project Almanac in that regard, but the writer and director, Tim van Dammen plays they story for laughs and it is often quite funny, right up to its ending.

A good surprise, I'm glad I stayed.

DAY TWO: FRIDAY

The first full day of FrightFest and the first day of making hard choices and also the day, I took a chance and it paid of with a total surprise (more on that to come).

The Cleaning Lady (2018)

The Cleaning Lady is a good example of less is more. By that I mean, as with most films at an event like FrightFest I only know what was in the guide. I never looked up the trailer for it. I went in knowing as little as possible.

And that was a good thing. The story, of a woman having an affair with a married man and tentative friendship with a disfigured woman who cleans her home, will if you know the genre may seem as if it's going to be predictable. However, co-writers Alexis Kendra and Jon Knautz (Knautz also directs) adds a few wrinkles to the story that does take some disturbing turns. Alexis Kendra also plays the lead, Alice, the woman having the affair, but she is in some ways sympathetic in that she wants to break it off, but is also in love with the man. She's good in the role. She's matched by Rachel Alig as Shelley the cleaning lady, who also gets some sympathy for her own tragic past But as the story progresses and Shelley takes more interest in Alice's life, the tension builds as it heads to a disturbing ending, but one I liked a great deal.

It's a well made film, one I certainly would recommend.

St. Agatha (2018)

Sometimes the film you think you are going to get, isn't in fact what you do. Case in point St. Agatha. Based, in part, on what the guide said about it, I was expecting a film along the lines of Rosemary's Baby or possibly The Omen. However in some ways, it's more evil than those films, by not going that route. This is a disturbing, nasty (but in a good way) film, that does have moments that will have you flinching as a young woman, Mary, begins to discover the truth about the convent she will give birth in. The film is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, possibly still best known for his work directing several of the Saw films, but here while there are brutal moments, which would recall those films, instead he builds the fear and unease as Mary finds herself trapped with no apparently no way out. With two terrific central performances from Sabrina Kern as Mary and especially Carolyn Hennesy as the Mother Superior, St. Agatha isn't an easy film to sit through at times, but it is a good one.

One Cut Of The Dead (2017)

As I said at the beginning, with so many to choose from on the FrightFest schedule, you have to decide what appeals to you and go see them if you can, even if it does mean missing something else that appeals. I had planned on going to see the film Rock Steady Row. However I couldn't get a passholder ticket and so, took a chance on a zombie film instead. But what a chance! 

I've bemoaned how many so-called comedies turn out to be anything but that. But One Cut Of The Dead, is quite simply the funniest film I have seen in years. Opening with a 37 minute single take shot of a film crew making a zombie film, only to be attacked by zombies, it's a total blast from beginning to end. I don't want to say more about the story of the film, as it will spoil the film to a degree I feel, but the cast throw themselves fully into the spirit of the film and the laughs keep coming right up to the very end.

As I said, this wasn't even on my radar for seeing and in the end I'm glad I took the chance as this was by far the film of FrightFest for me.

Incident In A Ghostland (2018)

If someone simply said, this is from the director of Martyrs, it might prepare you for what is to come. And to a degree it does. However, while the film does have a stonker of a twist in it, it runs foul, for me at any rate, of what made Martyrs so good.

The story, of a mother and daughters attacked in their home and how 16 years later one of the daughters returns home after a terrified phone call from her sister, is a film that pushes boundaries in its own way. I won't reveal any more of the plot, as it would spoil the twist, but the film is tense and brutal, sometimes hard to watch, though not on the same level of intensity that Martyrs was. The director Pascal Laugier stages the scenes very well indeed, especially in the opening invasion of the house. The actresses, especially the two playing the teen daughters, Emilia Jones and Taylor Hickson are superb. 

However, it's the level of brutality that is inflicted upon them that made me uneasy. The characters are aged around 15 in the story and maybe it's a sign I'm getting older I thought it was too much on them. I never had the same issue with Martyrs strangely, and I put that down to the characters being older. I think it was because they are children here I found it too much to endure. 

It's not a bad film certainly, but like Martyrs, not one I can see me revisiting any time soon.

Boar (2018)

Boar is an Australian film about a giant, well, Boar terrorising a local community. Really that's all you need to know. Chris Sun wrote and directed the film and while he stages the attacks by the boar very well indeed, the story felt too episodic. It would introduce characters, they would be attacked and then bring some more into the story, often forgetting the previous ones. The ending too didn't fully work for me, as it seemed the film wanted to wrap everything up in a happy ending of sorts, but one I didn't think the film deserved.

Not terrible, but not that good either I'm afraid.

And so ended day two. There were still three days to go, including a zombie musical and a dance party the likes of which you'd never seen before.

I will cover them in Part Two...